Polaris
by shannyfish
Summary: When Kara and Alex Danvers wake up apart in the middle of nowhere, they have no idea that they are both pawns in the middle of someone else's evil plan who hopes the sisters will wage a death match. Summer of Supergirl prompt: You're So Mean - Female Villains.


_"We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside us."_

* * *

The sky above her was dark, but at the same it was lit with stars. She gasped and sat straight up, her head turning in every direction, scanning the area. Alex remembered suddenly what had happened. She'd been out with Adler, Benanti, and Harewood on a mission. The reports they were receiving from apparently military connections had led them to believe that whatever the alien that was on the loose not far from the DEO base. J'onn was out dealing with some kind of political issue, so Alex had done what she was supposed to (what she knew J'onn would have ordered them to do). They'd gotten to the coordinates and found nothing.

That wasn't true.

It had been a trap.

Now, as Alex looked around, she realized that it must have been a trap for _her_.

Getting to her feet, the first thing she noticed was that she was still completely decked out in DEO gear. She had been left with just her knife and handgun. She started to pat her pockets, no cell phone or radio. Well, not quite _everything_. Alex looked around, trying to figure out which way to walk in. It was possible that the others were out there somewhere… She looked down and realized her watch was still there. Alex had been out for nearly four hours, she realized, it had been light out still when her team had gone out.

"Crap," she muttered.

Looking around again, she realized that she needed to make sure that she was walking in the same direction...there would be no walking in circles. With nothing in any distances to use as guides, she moved her gaze upwards towards the sky. The stars, she realized, could assist her with a general direction. Her father had always been big on astronomy, but Kara had been even more so. They used to lay on the roof, star watching with Kara telling her all about what she knew of stars from Krypton. Earth had an important star, though, which was the North Star.

Polaris.

Alex found it quickly and then adjust the dial on the edge of her watch to match the north heading of Polaris. It had been four hours since they'd gotten to that location and by now, someone had to have noticed that the team either hadn't come back or just she hadn't come back. People had to be looking for them/her. J'onn had to have been notified. J'onn and Kara would both be looking for her… That didn't mean that she needed to say still, though, and she couldn't handle the idleness of that decision. She had to keep moving, trying to do her best to save herself (and possibly find the rest of her team).

The landscape was barren and rocky and reminded her of the area near the DEO base out there in the middle of nowhere. It was just like where they'd been when they'd been ambushed. She knew that without anything to fix her location on that she really just had to pick a direction and keep walking straight in it. So, she did.

She went west.

Towards the ocean.

She couldn't see the ocean, but she knew somewhere out there, the ocean was there. Alex was wishing that she had a flashlight, but it wasn't on her. Instead, she kept her hand on her knife's hilt just in case she needed to defend herself.

Time passed, Alex didn't know how much...her eyes had adjusted to the dark, but it didn't make things any easier. Everything was still so far away, but at the same time...there was no end in sight. Sighing, she was about to sit down, to give herself a short break when she saw something ahead of her. "Hello?" she called. She picked up her pace, breaking out into a jog. "Adler? Benanti? Hare- Oh…" She breathed before dropping to her knees and reaching out to check for a pulse. Relief instantly filled her and Alex closed her eyes for just a moment before looking down at the unconscious form. "Kara? Kara? Wake up…"

It didn't get past Alex that though her sister wasn't wearing her glasses and her hair was down, she was still wearing civilian clothes. She wasn't dressed as Supergirl. So, whomever took them...they knew Kara was Supergirl...either that or this was just a way to torture Alex. Either way, she didn't like it.

Scanning the area, Alex sucked in a breath, feeling like they were very much alone out there. She sat there for a few minutes, giving herself her break and just listening to Kara breathe. As much as she hadn't liked being out there alone, she hated this more. Having her sister in danger was even worse in Alex's mind and heart, even though Kara was Kryptonian. Even though she knew it was something that had been ingrained in her from the age of fourteen when Kara had first gotten there by her parents, it was still something that very much emotionally affected her.

She had to protect her.

She would protect her.

Against whatever came.

Getting to her feet, she bent over and gently hoisted up her sister into a fireman's carry. Kara's extra weight was manageable, though Alex wasn't sure how much distance she'd cover with Kara held like that, but she wasn't going to leave her behind.

She'd walked a good distance carrying Kara, or at least she felt like she had, when her sister started to stir. Carefully, Alex set Kara down. Pushing the hair away from her sister's face, she waited for her eyelids to open to reveal the bright blue behind. "Kara? You're safe," Alex whispered as she hovered. "Just please...wake up…"

A laugh bubbled up from her sister before her bright blue eyes snapped open. "Awww...Alex, it's _cute_ that you think that _you_ could ever keep _me_ safe," Kara said in the most condescending tone Alex had ever heard come from her sister's mouth.

Suddenly she found the wind knocked out of her as she went flying backwards through the air. It wasn't a foreign enemy that separated them, but Kara. As Alex looked to Kara, it was then that she realized something was very wrong. Her sister stood there in jeans and a rose colored blouse...and then Alex saw it. Something that she'd never seen Kara wear before and when it seemed to glow, it hit Alex.

Red Kryptonite.

It was a rough red triangular stone that was wrapped in a silver wire and on a silver chain. It was definitely not something that Kara had. It had to have been planted on her...or gifted on her...and this was even more of a trap than the one she and her team had fallen into. The Red Kryptonite suddenly explained so much with Kara's actions and words.

Crap.

She had no way to combat a Red Kryptonite infected Kara. She had bullets and a knife. That was it. She didn't even have extra clips. Alex sucked in a breath and tried to think about how they could handle this. Getting to her feet, she stood her ground as Kara floated in place. "Kara, you're not thinking clearly," she tried to rationalize. Alex knew it wouldn't work. The Red Kryptonite corrupted Kara's mind and it completely changed how she thought. There was really no way in breaking through that.

" _Oh_ , I'm thinking clearly!" Kara snapped. "I know exactly what this relationship you keep so desperately holding onto is."

She was nasty and awful, but Alex just kept telling herself that she had to keep her sister talking. If she could keep Kara talking, then she wasn't going anywhere else causing any kind of mayhem. The last thing they needed was another Supergirl out of control and against the city incident. That had been so hard on Kara, let alone getting the city's trust in her back. Alex didn't want to watch her sister go through that again. At the same time, she knew exactly what this side of Kara was capable of...she had tried to kill Alex the last time (and she'd nearly succeeded).

"You think that this side of me...that it's something that's controlling me, but you're wrong…" Kara told Alex quietly at first. Her smirk just seemed to spread and deepen. " _This is me_! The side that you try _so hard_ to suppress! No more quiet and invisible Kara! _She's gone_! I won't live that sheltered life anymore! You can't control me anymore, Alex!"

This wasn't Kara, Alex knew that. All she could remember was her sister's heartbroken face at the DEO as she broke down crying about how it was so horrible, she could remember it all...but Kara hadn't meant any of it. "Think about it, Kara. Other than the last time you were exposed to Red Kryptonite, when have you felt this way?" Alex attempted.

Distraction.

They just needed a distraction.

Time.

Alex had to buy time.

" _Think_ , Kara!" Alex pushed. She knew that there was a delicate balance and she was half surprised that this corrupted version of Kara hadn't tried to kill her already (again). All Alex wanted to do was to hug her sister until her real self surfaced, but that was dangerous for both of them.

So, she kept her distance.

"You don't think that I didn't think about killing you every single day?"

" _No_ ," Alex said automatically. She knew that this wasn't her Kara talking. No matter what this evil version of her sister said, Alex knew that wasn't true.

" _Oh, Alex_...if you _only knew_ all the _thoughts_...all the _secrets_ that I don't tell you," Kara said, almost evilly sweetly. It was scary and Alex was thinking that maybe she'd pushed a little too much (not that there really had been much pushing, it was just that this version of Kara really didn't need anything like pushing or nudging).

"I know this isn't you, Kara."

"You're a scientist, Alex," Kara replied. "We both know I'm not taken over by some other life force. This is me." She gave a slight shrug and her lips pressed together into a more mischievous smirk. "You just haven't accepted it yet."

" _No_ ," Alex fought back. "This isn't _you_ talking. It's the Red Kryptonite! It _corrupts_ you! It takes everything bad that you've ever thought or-" Before Alex could finish what she was saying, Kara's hand was on her throat and Alex was struggling to pull air into her lungs. Her feet couldn't touch the ground and all she could do was struggle and hope that her sister (that she knew was deep down inside) would stop. Alex wasn't stupid, she knew that she couldn't fight and win in a fight like this against her sister.

And she didn't _want_ to fight her sister.

And then for some reason, Kara released her. Alex crumpled to the ground, her hand up at her neck as she sucked in air as quickly as she could. She looked up at her sister again. "It's that necklace, Kara!"

"You and I both know that I don't have to have constant exposure to Red Kryptonite," Kara shrugged off as she pulled the pendant until the necklace easily broke. She tossed it away like it was nothing. Kara tilted her head and for a moment, she just stared at her. Alex wasn't quite sure what to take from what Kara was doing, she could just be thinking...or she could be using her x-ray vision or-

The oxygen was snatched from her again as she found herself hauled up and a chain pulled against her neck. Alex hadn't even remembered putting a necklace on that morning. It wasn't something she normally wore when in the field. Kara was yanking at a point and just to the perfect amount of strength that the necklace wasn't breaking.

"What do we have here?" Kara questioned.

Alex couldn't see what her sister was talking about, since she was pulling the chain from behind. She just closed her eyes and focused on trying to breathe as slowly as possible and to keep from panicking. She needed to conserve the minimal air she was getting. The sound of metal. Unscrewing.

And then suddenly she could breathe once again.

"Ohhhh, we're playing it that way, Alex?!" Kara spat.

Turning her head, she watched as her sister backpedaled and it took Alex a moment to really take in the fact that she hadn't flown. She looked down and saw it. Saw what Kara had found. What had been planted on her. It was clear in that moment, they were both pawns in a larger game.

Kryptonite.

The necklace had a pendant on it that contained what looked like a Kryptonite round. She didn't want to hurt Kara, so she immediately grabbed it from the ground along with the top that had been removed. With the items in her hand, she realized that the metal had to be lead. That was the only way that it would have been protected this long.

"It looks like you want to kill me as much _I want to kill you_ ," Kara stated. She was at a distance now, floating slightly.

"I don't want to kill you."

"Your choice of weapon says otherwise." Kara tilted her head slightly. "Or do you see it as _mercy_? Reuniting me in the light of Rao with my parents? _With Astra_?"

That was Alex's darkest fear, to lose her sister. She wasn't going to be the one to kill her. The world needed Kara's light (the _real_ version of her sister). " _Kara, I love you. Always. Please remember that_."

"It's _so adorable_ that you actually _think_ what you're saying is the truth when I know deep down exactly how you feel about me," Kara continued.

Alex didn't stick around to hear anymore. Instead, she dropped the Kryptonite and the pendant lid into a pocket and took off in the opposite direction. Kara could come after her, she knew that, and she also knew that there really wasn't any place she could hide...but she wasn't going to kill her sister.

Her insides were twisting and fear was pushing its way in. Alex wouldn't choose her life over Kara's. Never. Not even with Kara like this. Alex would rather sacrifice her own life so that her sister could live. No matter what problems they'd had, no matter how hard life had been, or how not-Kara (and dangerous) her sister was right now...the world needed Supergirl (more than it needed Alex Danvers).

She'd thought that Kara wasn't following, but then as she turned her head to look over her shoulder, she heard it...the sound of Kara whooshing around. She went flying and though her body creaked upon impact, she knew nothing was broken (that didn't mean that she wasn't going to hurt, though). Alex immediately pushed herself to her feet and started off in a sprint again.

It hit her in that moment.

Not Kara, but a _thought_.

 _Kryptonite_.

It didn't matter what color it was.

It emitted a _unique_ radiation signature. It was something that could be tracked. She just hoped that whomever was at the DEO control center was looking for _anything_ out of the ordinary when looking for her (and Kara, if they knew she was also missing). J'onn had to have been alerted and if Vasquez was looking for them, then Alex was certain that they'd see the radiation...and there were two unique types of Kryptonite. That had to raise some red flags.

"All my life I had to _live_ on this _awful world_ with you!" Kara shouted. "All the while _pretending_ that I loved you like a sister! The truth is, you will _never_ be my sister...or my family...you are nothing but a _jealous human_!"

She tried to ignore the words. They stung just the same, but Alex kept reminding herself that this really wasn't her Kara. This wasn't going to last long, she knew, but she had to try. To protect Kara...from herself and the world from Kara. Her sister's evil alter ego would soon give up this cat and mouse game and just take Alex out and/or just fly off to wreak havoc elsewhere.

The sudden idea that came to Alex's mind made her sick. It was the smart move, but Alex really didn't want to do it...mainly because of the guilt she knew she'd feel doing it. Right now, it seemed like the only answer to keep the rest of the world safe from her Red Kryptonite poisoned sister was to do the one thing that Alex never wanted to do, to cause her own sister harm.

She wouldn't have a lot of time.

Sucking in a shaky breath, the guilt already seeping into her soul, Alex pulled the Kryptonite bullet from her pocket and loaded it into her sidearm as she came to a stop. She pulled in another breath, reminding herself that it was only to slow Kara. It wasn't anything fatal. It was just to give the DEO a chance of finding them before her sister did something that she'd regret.

She held her sidearm at her side, breathing and trying to stay calm as Kara moved in closer. Her sister hit the ground and then started to swing a punch at her, but Alex knew exactly what to do. Sometimes it really paid off growing up with a Kryptonian plus having parents who were basically obsessed with them before even that point, Alex knew exactly where to shoot Kara in the abdomen where the shot would only hit soft tissue (while avoiding organs). The shot rang through her eyes and she was almost in shock that she'd even pulled the trigger. A moment later, she found herself being knocked back.

Kara's scream filled the air.

Alex looked over to see her sister crumpling. One round wouldn't kill her, but it would weaken her...if it it was a through and through. Before anything could be said, though, a helicopter with a spotlight flew overhead. SUVs came from the distance. Alex knew that it was the DEO. It meant that they'd been found. With Kara not moving and the scene obviously now contained, Alex just allowed herself to lay there on the ground and breathe, staring up at the starlit sky.

* * *

"Alex?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily before looking over. A smile spread across Alex's face and the fact that she'd just been about sleep was pushed aside, she was wide awake now. "Kara," she said as she scooted the chair she was in forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Are you okay?"

Alex eyed her. "I asked first."

"Alex-"

"You know, you're not going to win at this."

Kara was obviously her normal self and sighed in response. "I-I'm sore...and upset-"

"I'm a little bruised," Alex supplied before Kara could get too far. "No broken bones." She knew that that was what her sister was worried about. The last time, Kara had broken her arm. This time, Alex had been lucky.

Silence.

" _I shot you_ ," Alex finally started.

It needed to be said.

"You _had_ to," Kara said as if it were the most clear thing.

It wasn't normally a response you heard from people. "I only did it because I was afraid that you'd fly off-"

" _I get it_...and I'm _glad_ that you did it."

" _I'm not_."

Kara's little face scrunched up now in response. "Alex, it was all you could do."

"No, what I really should do is to get into the lab and figure out a way to make you impervious to Red Kryptonite," Alex turned it around. "That's what I should _really_ do." Now that Max had created Red Kryptonite, it just seemed like it was out there in the world. "Max doesn't know who was behind it...who would have gotten it-"

"And you _believed_ him?"

"There was a lot of threatening and physical violence involved-"

" _Alex_ -"

" _Believe me_ , it wasn't Max," Alex waved off.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"A couple of hours," Alex explained. "J'onn already had Max here in a cell."

"We might as well label one for him with how much he seems to be ending up here," Kara teased.

Her sister was definitely trying to lighten the mood and Alex didn't mind it. She smiled and let out a sigh. "You know the one thing that I really appreciated being out there in the middle of nowhere?"

"What?"

"The stars."

Kara brightened even more at that. "Nighttime was my favorite time of day when we used to live in Midvale, the two of us staring up at the stars each night…"

"When I woke and was all alone, I looked up and found Polaris...trying to use it so that I wasn't walking in circles," Alex explained. "Stars are great for navigation when you don't have a compass or your phone...but all I could _really_ think was that _you_ have _always_ been my North Star, Kara…"

Kara looked like she was going to cry now and emotions were bubbling up inside of Alex as well. She didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost her sister. "No, _you_ are my Polaris, Alex," Kara told her firmly as tears finally fell.

Alex moved in to hug her sister, holding her tight. "I love you."

"I love you," Kara repeated quietly. "El-may-arah."

El-may-arah.

Stronger together.

Together the Danvers sisters really could do anything.

Alex kissed the side of her head, wiped away her own tears, and just beamed at Kara. "Let's rest...so I can break you out in the morning...we'll have a pancake festival."

"Pancake festivals are the best."

"Good, because I'm not cooking them."

"IHOP?"

"Oh, _definitely_ IHOP."

* * *

The End.


End file.
